Is a rift brewing between the West Bengal bureaucracy and chief minister Mamata Banerjee? Several senior IAS officers on Monday evening had met state chief secretary Samar Ghosh to lodge their protest against the manner in which the chief minister was humiliating them in meetings in presence of junior officers. Ms Banerjee had during her recent visits to the districts admonished many senior IAS officers for different reasons. “The chief minister is setting a new trend which is not at all encouraging for the bureaucracy,” a senior departmental secretary reportedly told the chief secretary who, however, remained non-committal.
In her first press conference as the chief minister on May 20, Ms Banerjee had said that the state had severe shortage of good IAS and IPS officers. This statement had demoralised the state bureaucracy. She had later, however, in the Assembly said that the departmental secretaries in the state were working under tremendous pressure as each one of them was looking after several departments.
Recently, the chief minister once again changed her attitude. In the administrative meetings in the districts, “she repeatedly humiliated and reprimanded” many of the departmental secretaries. “State agriculture secretary Hridyesh Mohan and state panchayat secretary Barun Ray were at the receiving end most of the time. State public works department secretary A.R. Bardhan was also humiliated in front of junior officers for the poor condition of roads. On Monday, power secretary Malay De was chided for no reason,” sources said.
“As the chief minister, she can always express her displeasure about any officer in a private meeting with the officer concerned. But the kind of dressing down senior officers are receiving in presence of junior officers is insulting and demoralising,” a senior bureaucrat said.
Interestingly, the secretaries of the land and land reforms and health departments have escaped her wrath possibly because both departments are headed by the chief minister herself. The land and land reforms secretary has not been invited in the meetings in the districts though there are many issues relating to land. “The chief minister’s attitude has really disheartened us. She should sit with the officers to know the ground reality of a district before visiting that particular district. But instead she is humiliating senior officers in such large gatherings which is uncalled for. This will not take the state anywhere,” the bureaucrat added.